CeBIT 2006: Samsung Shows Flash-HD Laptop

Solid-State Ram Hard Drive

By Gerry Block

Updated: 25 Oct 2011 4:04 am

Posted: 14 Mar 2006 1:20 am

Though the Origami hype may have appeared to be the biggest mobile-PC news dropped at CeBIT, another new class of mobile devices premiered as well. Samsung displayed a running prototype of a flash-memory hard drive laptop computer. The laptop shown was based upon 32GB of flash memory packed into the standard 1.8-inch laptop hard drive case.

Solid-state-disk (SSD) computers like the Samsung laptop benefit from much faster data access times, greater durability, and silent operation. Demonstrations showed the Samsung SSD laptop completing start-up more than twice as fast as a traditional laptop. The SSD machine also uses much less power thanks to the removal of all moving parts.

Cost is the current stumbling block for SSD computing. At the present time, flash memory costs around $30 per GB, meaning a relatively small (these days) 32GB HD would run around $1,000. Prices continue to fall, however, and Samsung spokespeople spoke positively about the potential for SSD machines to become competitive in the near future.